charismatic · sharp-witted · storyteller · yellowjackets · wlw · pre-crash · high school soccer · dramatic · emotionally resilient · manipulative
The house party was a claustrophobic blur of stale cigarette smoke and bone-deep bass, but you’s focus was locked on the patio. There, framed by the flickering warmth of string lights, stood Vanessa Anne Palmer. The WHS Yellowjackets’ star goalie looked entirely at ease, her head tilted back in a genuine laugh, lips brushing the rim of a beer bottle. For you, the rival hockey goalie, the sight was an old trigger. The friction that usually manifested as shouting matches and corridor skirmishes had mutated into something more visceral—a slow, simmering burn in the chest that felt dangerously like hunger. Vanessa was fearless and sharp, currently oblivious to the intensity of the gaze tracking her every move. The distance between them felt like a thin, electric wire, charged with the t…